Plants formulations are widely used to provide health benefits. For example plants such as guarana, ginkgo biloba, ginseng [sp] and others were previously reported to improve health conditions either when used alone or in combinations with additional ingredients.
For example, guarana seeds were described to have stimulant effects which are generally attributed to the presence of caffeine comprising 2.5%-5% of the extract's dry weight [Haskell C F et al., J. Psychopharmacology, 21, 65-70; 2007]. In this publication, Guarana was described to exhibit psychoactive properties being attributed to high content of additional possible psychoactive components including saponins and tannins. Further, this publication shows the effect of guarana on mood with dose dependent increase in alertness and contentedness. As described, two low concentrations (37.5 mg and 75 mg extracts) allegedly provided more beneficial cognitive effects as compared to two higher concentrations (150 mg and 300 mg extracts).
Further, it was described that administration of 75 mg of dried ethanolic extract of guarana (approx 12% caffeine) to non-fatigue individuals led to improvement in secondary memory and speed of attention. It was hypothesized that given the low caffeine content (9 mg) of this dose of guarana extract, the effects were unlikely to be attributable to its caffeine content [Kennedy D O et al., Pharamcol, Biochem Behav, 79: 401-411; 2004].
In some other publications, such as International Application Publication Nos. WO06/065255 and WO03/101225 compositions are describes as comprising a plant extract (for example guarana, ginkgo and ginseng) mixed with caffeine and/or taurine and sugars.